Black French Women and the Struggle for
Equality, 1848–2016 explores how black women in
France itself, the French Caribbean, Gorée, Dakar, Rufisque,
and Saint-Louis experienced and reacted to French
colonialism and how gendered readings of colonization,
decolonization, and social movements cast new light on the history
of French colonization and of black France. In addition to
delineating the powerful contributions of black French
women in the struggle for equality, contributors also look at
the experiences of African American women in Paris and in so doing
integrate into colonial and postcolonial conversations the
strategies black women have engaged in negotiating gender and
race relations à la française. Drawing on research by scholars
from different disciplinary backgrounds and countries, this
collection offers a fresh, multidimensional perspective
on race, class, and gender relations in France and its
former colonies, exploring how black women have negotiated the
boundaries of patriarchy and racism from their emancipation
from slavery to the second decade of the twenty-first century.